US President Donald Trump confirmed he personally called Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to oppose plans to list tariff-related surcharges on products, claiming the move was reversed after their conversation. Trump defended his tariff policy as an incentive for US manufacturing and hinted he may call out more CEOs if their actions harm the country.
Asked in NBC News interview, if he would reach out to other corporate leaders in similar situations, Trump replied: “Sure. I’ll always call people if I disagree with them.”
He added, “If I think that somebody’s doing something that’s incorrect, wrong or maybe hurtful to the country, I’ll call. Wouldn’t you want me to call? [President Joe] Biden wouldn’t call because he didn’t know what was happening, but I do.”
Trump describes phone call with Bezos
Trump revealed in the interview that he personally called Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos earlier this week to express concern over Amazon’s reported plans to list tariff-related surcharges on certain purchases. Trump said the call resulted in the idea being scrapped.
“He’s just a very nice guy,” Trump told the news outlet. “We have a relationship. I asked him about [the tariff charge language Amazon considered including in listings]. He said, ‘Well, I don’t want to do that,’ and he took it off immediately.”
Bezos and Trump relationship warms
The conversation came after Punchbowl News reported that Amazon’s “Haul” store had weighed listing tariff-related fees on some imports, following Trump’s move to impose 145% tariffs on goods from China.
While their relationship was tense during Trump’s first term, recent interactions suggest a thaw. In December, Amazon contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Bezos attended his swearing-in ceremony. Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021 but remains executive chairman.
Tariffs meant as ‘incentive,’ not a tax
Defending his tariff strategy on Chinese imports, Trump argued that the policy was meant to encourage domestic production rather than burden consumers.
“I don’t view it as a tax. I view it as an incentive for people to come into the United States and build plants, factories, offices, a lot of things,” he said. “What people don’t understand is, and this is a lot, the country eats the tariff. The company eats the tariff. And it’s not passed along at all.”
On toys and trade deficits
NBC anchor also asked Trump to clarify remarks he made earlier suggesting that children might have fewer toys due to tariffs. Trump denied implying that tariffs would raise prices or cause shortages.
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl — that’s 11 years old — needs to have 30 dolls,” Trump said. “I think they can have three dolls or four dolls, because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable.”
He added: “They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five. We don’t have to waste money on a trade deficit with China for things we don’t need, for junk that we don’t need.”
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